While on a surfing trip, Sprout President Jordan Nollman had an idea for a new surf journaling app. In between sessions, he mocked up the app and upon returning to the US contacted his good friend and surf buddy, Ben Rewis. The end result was Sessions Surf Journal (SSJ), a mobile application for iPhones that allows users to catalog, track and share their surfing journal entries. It would be the first project launched by the newSprout Foundation, which creates mobile and web applications for charity. Since SSJ and newSprout’s launch, we’ve also collaborated with Surfline and Surf Rider Foundation to align environmental and overall surf initiatives.

In 2011, newSprout legally incorporated as a nonprofit in Massachusetts and formalized our tax-exempt status. The newSprout Foundation is a registered 501c3 with the IRS and launched its first app (Sessions Surf Journal) in June of 2013. Download for free here!

Sessions allows users to do the following:

Catalog, track and share your surf sessions with friends

Check out other surf-related social media sites containing updates from your bros, as well as other local and global community feeds

Establish and track beach improvement programs including clean up initiatives, water quality monitoring, and ocean activism

Monitor how many pieces of trash you have removed from beaches and earn points, badges, and prizes for being active on the app as well as on the beach

New entries: instantly share surf session notes, photos, who you surfed with, what board you rode, where the break was, wave ratings, and overall surf and weather conditions; you can share your entries on Facebook, Twitter, and within the SSJ community data fields

Community: keep your finger on the pulse of your bros’ entries and check out other regional and international feeds as well; view other’s photos, ratings, notes and more; search trending topics, “like” or comment on other’s surf session entries, and just straight up connect!

Board quiver: add a name and description for each of your boards, as well as check out other SSJ members’ rides; keep track of any changes, fin set-ups, repairs and dings

Breaks: geo tag all your favorite surf breaks for future surf sessions and contribute to the SSJ database as well.

Bro list: add your friends and other SSJ community members to your bro list and keep track of who’s surfing where, how conditions were, and connect with them via the comments section on the app; you can also invite your friends to download sessions surf journal and join the active surfing community via your address book, Facebook, Twitter or just send them an email invitation

Trash pick up: this feature gives back to mother nature and our larger initiative to help make things right at the beach; track how many pieces of trash you picked up each time you’re at the beach; track the member who picks up the most trash, or has the most surf sessions and see who receives a sweet prize and be featured on our site at the end of the year!

Leaderboards and badges: each time you use the app, you’ll earn points and badges for participation; you can track who has the most surf sessions or pieces of retrieved trash; compete for fun and climb your way to the top of the leaderboard with each new entry

Links: check out links to our partners, sponsors and related charitable organizations who also care about the ocean

We’re pumped that you are sharing in the stoke, so please enjoy Sessions Surf Journal and have a great time surfing! For more information please email info@newsproutfoundation.org or check the website.